ESPN's Todd McShay: Prince Amukamara could fall to Detroit Lions

ALLEN PARK - A lot of Detroit Lions fans are hoping Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara will fall to the Lions' No. 13 pick in the first round of the draft and ESPN analyst Todd McShay believes it's a possibility.

In his most recent mock draft, McShay has the Lions selecting Colorado offensive tackle Nate Solder - with Amukamara (pronounced ah-MOO-kah-mare-uh) going in the No. 8 slot to the Tennessee Titans.

"It seems like every time I do this, the Lions are sitting there at No. 13 and just off the pace where their needs are,'' McShay said on a conference call today with reporters. "I have three cornerbacks going in the top 11. You can make the argument that corner is in the top three (of the Lions' needs). Corners usually don't come off that high, that quickly so one of those three could be available, probably (Colorado's) Jimmy Smith. Amukamara could certainly fall to No. 13. If not, you look at outside linebacker and I don't know if there's a fit. I don't think Von Miller (of Texas A&M) is going to fall to No. 10, much less No. 13.

"That's why I went with tackle, they need to plan for the future. I think (USC's) Tyron Smith is one of the most underrated tackles. He and Solder are the top two and there's a drop-off after that.''

"A couple of other guys are on the fringe. In this year's group, in general, I have 23 or 24 players with legitimate first-round grades so some guys are going in the first round who normally wouldn't,'' McShay said. "This isn't a bad draft class, but it comes up short in comparison (to last year).''

As far as the cornerback position, McShay has Peterson going seventh overall to the San Francisco 49ers. Several draft experts have Peterson going in the top five.

"I think Amukamara is just slightly behind Peterson,'' McShay said. "With Smith, I think there are some off-the-field things that need to be investigated, things like work ethic. If he drops, it'll be off-the-field stuff, not on-the-field.''

By the way, there are also a lot of Lions fans who believe Florida center/guard Mike Pouncey could go to Detroit in the first round. McShay believes that's going to be a reach and that fans have to understand that Mike Pouncey isn't necessarily a carbon copy of his twin brother, Maurkice, who was a Pro Bowl player as a rookie center for the Steelers this year.

"The problem with Pouncey is that he's compared to his brother and he's on a different level,'' McShay said. "I think (Mike Pouncey), when it's all said and done, maybe comes off late first round or more likely early second round.''

McShay currently has Pouncey going at No. 27 to the Falcons.

"He could be one of the upper echelon interior starters in the NFL three or four years down the road,'' McShay said.